1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sample analyzer which automatically analyzes a sample such as blood or urine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, there have been known sample analyzers such as immunoassay apparatuses, biochemical analyzers, blood cell counters, blood coagulation measuring apparatuses, in-urine physical component analyzers and urine qualitative analyzers.
An automatic analyzer disclosed in JP laid-open patent application publication H03-183955 is provided with a reaction table which includes a plurality of reaction containers containing specimens (samples) and reagents and is rotated with a predetermined rotation characteristic by a rotation driving section, a specimen dispenser which dispenses a specimen in a reaction container, a reagent dispenser which dispenses a reagent in a reaction container in which a specimen has been dispensed, a stirring section which stirs a specimen and a reagent in a reaction container, a photometric section which measures the concentration of a specimen in a reaction container, and a controller which controls operations of the sections.
The automatic analyzer disclosed in H03-183955 is configured as follows. The controller detects a problem and determines which one of the specimen dispenser, the reagent dispenser, and the stirring section relates to the content of the problem. When it is determined that the content of the problem relates to any of the above-described sections, mechanisms other than the reaction table and the section relating to the photometry are stopped, and the operations of the reaction table and the photometric section are continued. Therefore, when a problem occurs, a specimen which has already been stirred is subjected to the photometry and data thereof is obtained.
However, in the automatic analyzer disclosed in the above-described Patent Document 1, when a problem occurs in a part of the apparatus, it is impossible to newly dispense and process a sample continuously.